Pran is eighty His is the kind of life (pran) life will always be proud of

His life is one of those rarest of rare memorable lives, a life marked out from among the mammoth millions, especially the millions in a mahaan cou

ntry like India which is frightfully growing in scary figures, men, women and children growing into robots, mannequins, sardines, insects and worms (I’m sorry if we don’t do something about the population of our great country we will one day crush ourselves under our own weight).

To be born as Pran, a gem among men, in this mad mad world growing more and more mad, to be born to add life, to make life worth living, worth loving and in doing what he does with his life, things that bring excitement, enthusiasm, entertainment and even enlightenment to millions of lives.

Pran, the actor is a one name treasure-box of talent, a one man institution, a one-man legend who has achieved all that he has all on his own merit, the sheer strength of his talent. Pran, the name and what it meant forced so many scared families not to name their sons Pran, a genuine survey proved in the seventies. His fascinating individualistic performances as the perfect villain has made him the pran of millions of lives, an actor who has strained every muscle and nerve in his body to bring alive the passion and perfection of an entertainer. There have been many “Prans” who try to be like him who have came and faded away but there is only one Pran, there will be only one Pran.

Pran started his career as an actor in 1939! And has been working for more than six decades. He has seen kings and sultans and emperors and empires rising and falling, shining in all their glory and crumbling to ashes but he has stood rock-steady living a full life, making a permanent place in the hearts of millions. Pran has not just been a versatile actor but also a man with a big heart who has risen to face any crisis individual or any crisis facing the industry as a whole and helped in solving problems, all kinds of problems. His love for Bharat and its people has earned him blessings and prayers from countless peole who have benefitted because of this tough man’s soft heart.

It was Manoj Kumar who first thought of bringing the real-life goodness of Pran, the man, into his career as an actor. He inspired him to play the holy man in Upkar and that was the beginning of a new life, a changed life, a miracle in an actor’s life.

Pran turned eighty on February 12, eighty years of a hectic and colourful life but he looked fifty that night, glowing with happiness.

Pran has made the best of life and time. He wanted to have a private eightieth birthday. He wanted to sit and take a look back but his large family (all the Sikands) some of whom came from abroad had other ideas. The only prominent invitees were Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu at whose wedding he had danced all night, Naseem Banu, Shammi Kapoor, Nimmi and her husband, writer Ali Reza. “Pran Sahab” (that’s how the industry calls him with respect) cut his birthday cake, posed for all kinds of photographs and was full of life, living upto his name, playing the perfect host at eighty. The family then gave him the surprise they were anxious to give him. They (the team headed by his son-in-law Vivek Bhalla) presented him with his own website — Pran Sikand CD Rom. He kept looking at it like a boy of eight looks at the latest electronic gadget presented to him. That night I wondered why the giver of life could not give some good men like Pran Sikand, a second or even third life. I hope my prayer is under consideration, for Pran Sikand’s sake, atleast.

Ali Peter John